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If you smoke, you're doing more than just harming your lungs. You're also increasing your risk of heartburn — that fiery sensation in the chest often felt after meals. Besides being uncomfortable, chronic heartburn symptoms may lead to more serious health problems, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), esophagitis, and even cancer.

So what's the connection between smoking and heartburn? For starters, nicotine reduces the pressure in the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) and irritates the esophagus. Smoking also decreases the production of saliva — and the fluid actually helps protect the esophagus from acid, so you don't want less. Add those two problems together and the result is often serious heartburn and GERD. In addition, smokers are more likely to suffer from such complications of GERD as esophagitis, Barrett's esophagus, and esophageal cancer.

Quitting might not be easy, but it can be done. Nicotine patches, nicotine gum, inhalers, nasal sprays, and the prescription drug Zyban have all been proven to help smokers quit. Kicking the habit could not only save you from a lot of needless pain — it could also save your life.